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Released 31st July 2009
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Fans of Ridley’s younger brother, Tony Scott, will be happy to hear he was the man to remake the 1974 film Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3. With his slick, quick-cut editing and love of action, he breathes a unique and momentous pace into any script he tackles, and this is certainly the case here. Saying that, there is one moment of complete action overkill, where a frenetic police convoy races and crashes (quite spectacularly) its way through the streets of NYC with the multi-million dollar ransom money in tow. But, let’s be honest, the undeniable truth is the real draw of the 2009 film is the stellar cast ensemble of Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini and John Turturro. It goes without saying they all sit nicely in their roles. Travolta is hardcore, and it works well, whilst Washington infuses the kind of humanity needed to ground a film like this, and his calm and understated power is mesmerising - as always.
Naturally, the story needed modernising and the characters required a little face lift. In the original the leader of the highjackers was a mercenary. Here, he is a former Wall Street ‘high roller’ called Ryder (Travolta) who blames the City of New York and the mayor for causing him to stay in prison for 10 years, longer than the guilty plea of three years. However, of greater interest in this version is why Scott has turned Walter Matthau’s Lt. Garber character into a bribe-taking Subway employee (Washington) with better hostage-negotiating technique than the pros? Perhaps it’s a chance to move away from the usual ‘Denzel as the federal agent’ formula, as in the standard Scott-Washington affair (Man On Fire, Déjà Vu), or was it the writers’ personal dig at ‘NYC’s finest’ and the authorities?
There is, of course, homage to all the modern technologies that make ‘terrorism’ communication easier and more sinister to tackle, complete with Wi-Fi booster apparatus installed as part of the ‘negotiation’ with Ryder, which enables him to access his laptop to watch the stock market plunge during his highjack - another nod to the current economic climate and the crimes people are ‘forced to do’.
Energetic, cynical, and eerily poignant in this day and age - as terrorist events on public transport in the recent years have tragically proven, Scott’s remake is another edition to this hostage-taking thriller genre. Although it is not groundbreaking, nor the summer blockbuster they were hoping for, the characters and their underlying issues in modern-day New York are very relatable, and it is this that provides the very clever level of engagement that will make this film a success - oh, and the help of an impressive cast to seal the deal!
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By Rachel Baglin
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Synopsis
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Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train’s passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages. But there’s one riddle Garber can’t solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?
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Film Facts
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Official site: http://www.sonypictures.co.uk/movies/thetakingofpelham123/
UK Release Date: 31st July 2009
Directors: Tony Scott
Writers: Brian Helgeland (screenplay) John Godey (novel)
Cast: Denzel Washington (‘Walter Garber’), John Travolta (‘Ryder’), Luis Guzmán … (‘Phil Ramos’), Victor Gojcaj (‘Bashkim’), John Turturro (‘Camonetti’), James Gandolfini (‘Mayor’), Michael Rispoli (‘John Johnson’), Ramon Rodriguez
(‘Delgado’)
Distributor: Sony Pictures UK
Certificate: 15
Run-time: 121 mins
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Video on REAL
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Trailer:
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Four Clips:
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